Tag Archives: Italian language

Italian language, Italian songs

Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Sono Calmo

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I’m Calm

Having sent Clementina home from the confessional, Don Silvestro returns to his evening milk. The telephone rings. The voice on the line is God, who says that he is not happy with the way things are going on Earth, and has decided to send another flood. Don Silvestro is to build an ark… At the end of conversation, after the Lord has hung up, Don Silvestro freaks out.

Calmo, mantenere la calma Calm, maintain calm
Perché se non mi calmo Because if I don’t calm myself
Mi viene il cardiopalma I’ll have a heart attack
Calmo! Calm!
Con la mente tranquilla With a tranquil mind
Adesso mi preparo Now I’ll prepare
Un po’ di camomilla* A bit of camomile [tea]
   
Eppure il telefono ha squillato And yet the telephone rang
La voce del Signore m’ha parlato The voice of the Lord spoke to me
M’ha detto, m’ha detto esattamente He said to me, he said to me exactly…
Si m’ha detto esattamente Yes, he said to me exactly…
Che m’ha detto esattamente??? What did he say to me, exactly?
Aiuto! non ricordo un accidente! Help! I don’t remember a darn thing!
   
Calmo! ipersuperstracalmo Calm! hypersuperextracalm
E per restare piu’ calmo And to stay calmer
Ora recito un salmo I’ll recite a psalm
Qui facit misericordiam …
Calmo io, é una parola I’m calm, it’s a word
Il Dio che atterra e suscita che affanna e che consola The God who strikes down and revives and causes to pant and consoles
Ha parlato con me spoke to me.
Si, vabbé lo so che prima di me, fece un discorso simile a Noé Yes, okay, I know that before me he made a similar speech to Noah
No eh? No, eh?
   
Signore, scusami Pardon me, Lord.
   
Grazie, il cuore é regolare Thank you, the heart is regular [in its beats]
Il polso? Benissimo, cammina The pulse? Just great, it goes [on]
Adesso, mi posso addormentare Now I can go to sleep
E venga ben venga domattina And tomorrow morning will be welcome
   
Calmo Calm
Calmo come una salma Calm as a corpse
Son contento e felice I’m contented and happy
Son felice e contento I’m happy and contented
Oramai m’addormento Now I’ll go to sleep
in una mare di calma in a sea of calm
Ecco, si m’addormento See, yes, I’m going to sleep
in un mare di calma in a sea of calm
Oddio! Oh, God!
Ho parlato con Dio! I talked with God!
   
* camomilla – camomile tea, frequently used as a soothing decoction to help people, particularly children, go to sleep.

next: Concerto Per Prete E Campane

Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola full song list

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Italian language, Italian songs

Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Peccato Che Sia Peccato

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It’s a Shame That It’s a Sin

This song, the second in the show, is built around a pun. Peccato means “sin,” but the phrase Che peccato is used like the English “What a shame!”

The singers are Don Silvestro, the priest, and Clementina, the mayor’s daughter, who has a crush on him (which he, secretly, reciprocates) and goes daily to confess sins that she hasn’t actually committed, just to have an excuse to talk to him.

Continue reading Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Peccato Che Sia Peccato →

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Italian language, Italy travel

Translating italia.it

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The Italian government (just before it fell) launched with great fanfare italia.it, the country’s new tourism portal, along with a logo which:

As for the website… oh, dear god. They reportedly spent 45 MILLION euros for a site that lacks basic features (such as an RSS feed) that we have come to expect from a modern website. It has technical problems which anyone in Italy who knows anything about the web (and that’s a lot of us) is gleefully (and ruefully – our tax euros wasted!) tearing to bits.

Given my own skills and biases, what I first noticed was the English translation. Here’s a sample paragraph which I did not have to look hard to find:

For having more precise vision click on “+”: in this way it will be visualized an historical period in the detail.
For having, instead, one vision of entirety click on “-” and the period will be visualized a large historical period contain more events. The period comes shown in the Timeline to the right of the zoom: the blue bar will increase or decrease the dimension based on your choice.

This kind of laughably bad translation, like the manuals we so often see with Chinese electronics, gives the consumer no reassurance that there is anyone competent standing behind the product (the product, in this case, being Italy).

^ Someone else in need of a good translation service. The title on this clip in YouTube is "Rutelli inglese maccheronico" – Rutelli’s maccaronic English. Maccheronico (maccaroni-like) is the term Italians themselves use for heavily Italianized English (or other language).

Until a few weeks ago, I might have said that my Italian was good enough that I could translate an English text into decent Italian – not quickly, but I could do it, in fact had been asked to do it several times at the office (we have an office full of Italians, why ask me?).

Then we put this supposed skill of mine to the test. Ross is applying to attend Woodstock School next year. The application form includes recommendations to be done by various teachers and other people at her current school, none of whom (except the English teacher) reads or writes comfortably in English. So the form needed to be translated into Italian.

I took a first cut at it, and thought I had done a reasonably creditable job. Then Ross took it in hand, and came out with something completely different. I realized that my translation had been understandable, and grammatically fairly correct, but probably about as funny to a native Italian speaker as the text above is to a native English speaker.

Around the same time, Antonio, one of the delightful people I met at barCamp Roma, commented about me on his blog: Cavolo l’ho sentita zittire e mettere in riga decine di uomini con un italiano corretto, ma inglesissimo! – "Cavolo! I heard her shut up and straighten out dozens of men in very correct – but very English – Italian." Okay, I’m slightly embarassed about the shutting up and straightening out (not exactly my intention, but definitely my character). But the very correct and very English Italian… hmm.

I stand before you now, chastened and humbled: my Italian is good, but I sure as hell don’t speak or write like a native.

And this is a lesson that many Italians have yet to learn. Just because you can read and understand another language well, and maybe even translate well from that into your mother tongue, does not mean that you can translate in the other direction with comparable competence. If you need a text to sound professional and persuasive, leave it to an expert.

So… I’m looking for someone to translate my resumé into Italian…

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Italian language, Italian songs

Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Consolazione

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All this God-inspired romance is interrupted by the arrival of a travelling prostitute named Consolazione –

Consolation

– with that name, she could be a denizen of Dogpatch! – who distracts all the men from their wives, apparently because it’s their last chance for an extramarital fling.
Uomini, eccomi! Men, here I am!
E’ arrivata Consolazione Consolation has arrived.
Consolazione di nome e di fatto “Consolation” by name and in fact
Per consolarvi ho certi argomenti I have certain ways to console you
Prova per credere Try it to believe it
Facciamo un patto Let’s make a deal:
Se dopo voi non restate contenti If afterwards you aren’t content,
Sulla parola di Consolazione vi rimborso la consumazione! On the word of Consolation, your money back!
Mando il mondo in visibilio, tutti chiedono di me I cause the world to …, everyone asks for me
L’avventura a domicilio “Adventure at home”
L’ho inventata e sai perché I invented it, and you know why
È una vera vocazione It’s a true vocation
A nessuno dico no I don’t say no to anyone
E se vuoi consolazione and if you want consolation
Me la chiedi You ask me –
Te la do* and I give it.
Se per colpa degli eventi If because of [by fault of] events
sei più triste di un cipresso you are sadder than a cypress
e la sera tu ti senti And in the evening you feel
malinconico e depresso melancholy and depressed
se per questa depressione If because of this depression
il morale tuo sta giù Your morale is down
tu vieni da tu vieni da Consolazione You come to, you come to Consolation
e lei te lo ritira su! And she’ll pull it back up for you!
Un due tre One, two, three
UOMINI Prima a me MEN: Me first!
Quattro cinque sei Four, five, six
UOMINI Comincia da me MEN: Start with me
sei sette otto, chi è senza biglietto Six, seven, eight. Who doesn’t have a ticket?
UOMINI io io io! MEN: Me me me!
Si faccia pure sotto**, sotto sopra in qualsiasi posizione Step right up [it’s done below], below, above, in any position
L’importante è non dire mai di no The important thing is never to say no
E se vuoi Consolazione and if you want Consolation
UOMINI La vogliamo MEN: We want it/her!
Aho ve la do! Oh, and I’ll give it to you!
dialog: Toto’ asks what she’s selling.

“This!” she says, showing her breasts.

“I only see a pair of zinne,” he responds.

“What did you expect me to have – four?”
Mi vuoi esotica o nostrana Do you want me exotic or local
turca greca russa o indù Turk, Greek, Russian or Hindu
Preferisci l’egiziana Do you prefer the Egyptian
Faccio tutto, scegli tu! I do everything, you choose!
E per te Consolazione egiziana diverrà And for you Consolation will become Egyptian
Tutankà tutankà tutankamera veniteme a trovà! Tutan[khamen]… [everything in the room] – come up and see me!
UOMINI Consolazione Consolaziò-ò-ò men: Consolation
Tu sei l’ultima occasione You’re the last chance/last sale
Non possiamo dire no We can’t say no
Voglio la Consolazione I want Consolation!
La volete? You want it?
UOMINI Si! Yes!
Io ve la dooooooooo, siiii I’ll give it to you, yes!
UOMINI
Consolazione consolazione, dammi tutto tutto dammi consolazione!		 Consolation, give me everything, give me consolation.

* Te la do – “I’ll give it to you” – to give “it” is used as a euphemism for a woman to give sex.

God, however, has something up his sleeve to take care of this little setback. Toto, the (unmarried) village idiot, has been hanging about the sidelines of this scene, too dense to know what to do with a woman. God suddenly gives him the necessary knowledge, and he shoulders aside the other villagers to reach Consolation, who takes one look at his, er, talents, and closes the door on everyone else, leaving them to go back to their wives.

next: Notte Per Non Dormire 2

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